If there was any doubt that the United States had switched sides in the war between Ukraine and Russia, and in the battle between autocracy and democracy, it was shattered in front of a watching world in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon.
What should have been a routine greeting with the press at the White House descended into an explosive row between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump, goaded on by JD Vance, who played the role of a sycophantic Mr Smee to Trump’s erratic Captain Hook.
The meeting began politely enough with Zelensky emphasizing the urgency of his visit, and Trump delivering his usual analysis of a war “that would never have happened if I was president.”
But as Trump opined further on the causes of the war in response to questions from the press, distributing blame equally between the invaded and the invader, Zelensky’s face began to drop.
“We have tremendous death taking place as we speak. And I don't want to have that. Think of the parents — whether they're in Russia or Ukraine — think of the parents of all these people being killed needlessly,” Trump said.
“They came to our territory,” Zelensky interjected, clearly exasperated.
The equivocation continued. While Zelensky was eager to answer questions about the security guarantees the US could provide in return for access to its natural mineral resources, Trump boasted about his election victory, claimed he alone could prevent a third world war, blamed Joe Biden for failing to stop the conflict sooner and heaped faint praise on Putin.
The mood began to turn when Trump made a quip about Zelensky’s clothing, a reference to the Ukrainian leader’s choice to not wear a suit until the war in his country ends. It came at an awkward moment, when Zelensky had made several attempts to answer questions about security guarantees that were vital for his country’s survival.
“I do like your clothing by the way,” Trump said, referencing an earlier question from a journalist in the room.
“Yeah really? I will answer on more serious questions if I can, please,” Zelensky replied, shooting a frustrated look Trump’s way.
The meeting was growing tense, but the dam broke when Vance interjected to answer a question directed at Trump asking if he was aligned with Putin.
Vance saw an opportunity to begin his obviously rehearsed speech — an ambush.
“For four years in the United States of America, we had a president who stood up at press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin, and Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy,” he said.
Zelensy, frustrated with the suggestion that diplomacy hadn’t been tried, gave the vice president a history lesson.
“We signed a ceasefire,” Zelensky said. “But after that he broke the ceasefire, he killed our people ... What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you speaking about? What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country, Mr. President,” Vance replied.
Armed with disconnected soundbites likely picked up from Tucker Carlson and amateur hour podcasts, Vance raised his voice, perhaps to disguise his apparent lack of knowledge.
“Mr. President, with respect, I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president,” Vance continued.
“Have you been to Ukraine? Did you see what problems we have?” Zelensky responded.
Vance was flustered.
“I have actually watched and seen the stories and I know that what happens is that you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr President… do you disagree that you have problems bringing people in your military? And do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?”
Trump, who had been watching silently, finally joined the fray to respond to Zelensky’s innocuous claim that the US would feel the influence of the war if it continued.
“You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re gonna feel. You’re in no position to dictate that. You’re in no position to dictate how we’re gonna feel,” Trump said.
“That’s exactly what you’re doing,” Vance intervened, shouting from behind the bully.
“We’re gonna feel very good and very strong,” Trump said. “You’re not in a good position, you don’t have the cards right now.
“I’m not playing cards. I’m very serious,” Zelensky said.
“You're gambling with World War Three, Trump shouted. “What you’re doing is very disrespectful to this country.”
Vance continued to stoke the flames.
“Have you said thank you once?” he asked of Zelensky.
“A lot of times,” Zelensky replied.
“You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October. Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the President is trying to save your country,” Vance shouted, like a petulant podcaster.
“Can I answer?” Zelensky replied.
“No you’ve done a lot of talking,” Trump said.
“If you didn’t have our military equipment this war would have been over in two weeks,” Trump shouted, as Zelensky tried to interject.
“In three days, I heard it from Putin,” Zelensky replied sardonically.
“It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this,” Trump, his red face now glowing through his orange makeup, said. “You have to be thankful. You don’t have the cards. You’re running low on soldiers.”
The meeting descended into a shouting match for at least a minute. Zelensky attempted to answer Trump and Vance’s provocations, but although he may have experience fighting a war, he is less practiced in the verbal pugilism of their world.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, once a staunch supporter of Ukraine, slumped into his chair as if his spine had been removed. And it had.
Never in history have two world leaders argued in front of the world’s press, let alone two supposed allies. Prime ministers and presidents across Europe, in Russia, and likely around the world, will have been glued to the exchange as it played out on live television.
“I think it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on,” Trump said. He was right, but perhaps not for the reasons he believed.
Trump tried to portray Zelensky, a man whose country is threatened with extinction, as ungrateful for the support provided to Ukraine by the Biden administration.
Zelensky’s reason for visiting the White House was a humiliation in itself. He had come to sign a deal giving the US access to its mineral resources in return for support provided by Trump’s predecessor. It was a shakedown that turned into an ambush.
What Trump proved instead, unequivocally, is that the US had switched sides.
His administration had played a canny game until today’s blow-up — it had pretended that Trump’s ill-treatment of his ally, his extortion, was only a means to achieve peace.
But with his guard down and his blood up, Trump revealed his true colours. He showed that he truly does not care who invaded who, or whether one country practices democracy and the other autocracy.
The entire ordeal was a coming-out party for Trump’s arrival in a club he has long sought to join, a world order where might is right. Armed with an excuse to cut Ukraine off even further, Trump takes one step closer to joining the world’s autocrats.
The meeting ended with a three-minute rant from the president that appeared to center all the world’s conflicts and problems around his own. It began with an expression of empathy for Putin, of a shared ordeal with the dictator in Moscow, and inexplicably ended in Hunter Biden’s bedroom.
“He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia, Russia, Russia. You ever hear of that deal, that was a phony that was a phony Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, scam, Hillary Clinton, shifty Adam Schiff, it was a Democrat scam, and he had to go through that. And he did go through it. We didn't end up in a war. And he went through it. He was accused of all that stuff he had nothing to do with. It came out of Hunter Biden's bathroom. It came out of Hunter Biden's bedroom. It was disgusting, and then they said, oh, oh, the laptop from Hell was made by Russia, the 51 agents. The whole thing was a scam, and he had to put up with that. He was being accused of all that stuff,” the president of the United States said, as the world watched on.
That final rant was perhaps the most revealing of all. Trump was complaining about his shared ordeal with Putin to the leader of a country that has been in a war for its survival for more than a decade.
When the shouting had died down, Vance smirked like a schoolboy and patted his boss on the shoulder.
